Texas A&M
Penn State
Aggies, Lions Battle to 1-1 Draw
Sep 03, 2006 | Soccer
September 03, 2006
The No. 2 Penn State Nittany Lions (1-1-2) survived a tidal wave of attacks against the No. 4 Texas A&M soccer team (3-0-1) to earn a 1-1 draw on Sunday in front of 3,774 fans at the Aggie Soccer Stadium.
?Penn State did a great job of hanging on and earning a tie today,? commented A&M head coach G. Guerrieri. ?They are a terrific program and it?™s tough for us to miss out on scoring chances to get a win in front of another great crowd in Aggieland.?
The Aggies attacked Penn State?™s goal time and time again but could not manufacture the go-ahead goal, despite outshooting the Nittany Lions 32-15 on the afternoon. A&M had three open looks in the first half alone. After dribbling through the Nittany Lion defense, senior Kat Krambeer had an open opportunity from 16 yards out but sailed the shot just wide right of the goal.
Three minutes later, junior Allison Martino used her speed to get on the end of an Ashlee Pistorius through ball, but hit the breakaway shot into the body of Penn State keeper Alyssa Naeher for the save.
Pistorius had a golden scoring opportunity of her own in the game?™s 13th minute when a ball was played to her all alone at the PSU back post, but she guided the shot just wide of the open net. Seven minutes later, she had another look at goal but Naeher posted the third of 10 saves she?™d make on the day.
The Aggies controlled possession for the majority of the game and dominated the shots in the second half, planting 17 to Penn State?™s six. However it was the Nittany Lions who put the ball in the net first. Following an Aggie free kick into the Penn State penalty area, the Nittany Lions won possession and started a 90-yard counter-attack down their right flank. Katie Schopher sent a cross to the right edge of the 18-yard box into the Aggie goal mouth, where Aubrey Aden-Buie stepped in front of an A&M defender to put away the shot from point blank range.
Seven minutes after the Penn State goal senior forward Suzzette Devloo managed to fire off three consecutive shots within three yards of the goal line, two ricocheted off the crossbar back towards her and one Naeher was able to block off the line.
In the game?™s 71st minute, Madison Klovstad netted the equalizer off a pass from Amy Berend in the middle of the field. Klovstad dribbled up the middle and sent the ball past Naeher from just six yards out. The goal was Klovstad?™s third in two games.
A&M almost came away with the victory in the first overtime as Pistorius headed a ball in behind the Penn State defense pulling Naeher out of the net and allowing midfielder Laura Grace Robinson to get a clear shot at the goal but the ball flew just inches over the crossbar, leaving the game tied at one.
Robinson was named State Farm Player of the Game for her determined efforts to win the ball in the Aggie midfield.
The Aggies will take to the road to face the No. 6 UCLA Bruins and the No. 3 Santa Clara Broncos this weekend in the UCLA Women?™s Cup. First match against the Bruins is set for Friday at 9 p.m.
